http://www.freewebs.com/the_dark_pri...%20Concept.jpg
This is Sora in his Limit form. As you can see, he has these crowns on his pants and sleeves. I don't know how I can make these or attatch whatever they are made of. I was thinking fabric, and sewing them on, but I didn't really want a seam on it.

I'd rather not paint it. I believe it would work as an iron on, but since it goes over the piping, I don't really know. I'm thinking of just having the white not be piping, but be just white fabric. Using actual piping isn't really nessisary so..Anyway, What's a blind stich? I'm still new to sewing and sewing terms.

So..Ummm....I ran into a little problem that I can't figure out what to do..And yes, it pertains to this exact thread, hence not starting a new one..

Well, I looked up more gameplay (as I no longer own the Final Mix+ version anymore), and it seems the designs I spoke of are EXTREMELY (and I mean that to the highest meaning possible) hard to see. Like they are very faded. So making them out of just black fabric will look really off compared to the actual game version. The picture I used in the first post is actually just photoshopped or something. You can tell because the lines for the designs are really crappy looking..But now that I know they are faded, I have no idea how to get that look? Any ideas? If I can't get that look I have another version I can make instead, but yea..Thanks

- paint; either diluted, or a base color that's mixed with just a little black to make a 20% shade or something like that
- an applique that's made from a fabric just one shade darker than the base garment
- embroidery using a thread that's one or two shades darker than the base garment

By the way, the white on the pants looks pretty obviously like piping. It sticks out from the surface in the reference image you shared; it's not flat.

- paint; either diluted, or a base color that's mixed with just a little black to make a 20% shade or something like that
- an applique that's made from a fabric just one shade darker than the base garment
- embroidery using a thread that's one or two shades darker than the base garment

By the way, the white on the pants looks pretty obviously like piping. It sticks out from the surface in the reference image you shared; it's not flat.

Oh, I shoulda mentioned, it's a faded grey..Were you saying trying to make the paint a shade darker then the color of the pants? because it's not a red shade, it's a greyish color but really really like..Is there an airbrush method? I can probably go find a cheapish air brush and do that..But I'm not sure it'll work the way I want..

The others where the ones I didn't wanna do lol Neither of them will look the way it's suppose to. I'm gonna post a screen shot of the best I can find..

I think it's just the limitations of the rendering - I'm not sure I would try to imitate that since I would guess that's not what it's "supposed" to be, just that it was what they were capable of doing with the technology at the time.

Think of re-makes and the whole FFX HD thing - they try their best with what they have at the time but there's room for improvement.

I'd be more inclined to go with how it's done in the concept art - if you can find a better example of the concept art that might help (since you said this one isn't right), too.

Oh, I shoulda mentioned, it's a faded grey..Were you saying trying to make the paint a shade darker then the color of the pants? because it's not a red shade, it's a greyish color but really really like..Is there an airbrush method? I can probably go find a cheapish air brush and do that..But I'm not sure it'll work the way I want..

Okay, apparently you don't know what a shade is. A "shade" is when you take a base color and mix it with some amount of black to turn it into a muted, darker version of the original color. A 10% shade is when you have 9 parts base color and 1 part black (90% base, 10% black). A 20% shade is 80% base color, 20% black.

What's on the shirt is grey, yes, because the base color is white. What's on the pants is NOT grey - it's a slightly muted, darker red, or a darker shade of that red. It's what happens when you mix a little black into it, or you can dilute black paint and do it as a transparent wash. If you put that image into Photoshop and use the eyedropper to extract the color, the RGB values and hex code will reflect dark red.

I wouldn't bother airbrushing it unless you want there to be a gradient look to it. I personally think that would look bizarre. I'd just paint with a brush.

I second what Kelley said. In a drawing, the artist can basically make it look like whatever they want. In a 3D rendered model, like on the PS2 or PSP, there are technology limitations. The model is composed of flat polygons and the textures and "clothes" are flat planes on these polygon surfaces. They can achieve a round look by using really small or narrow polygons, but it doesn't change the fact that the color, clothes, and textures are flat. To hide the fact that they're flat, the game graphic artists do tricks like putting a LOT of shading and gradients on these surfaces to create the illusion of depth or roundness. Doesn't mean that the clothes are supposed to be gradiented to hell, it's just the graphic artists creating an optical illusion so that the game characters look more believable or "prettier".

Because of this, when I compile references for a costume, I always take game graphics with a grain of salt. I rely on production artwork more than anything else, and I go to graphics when A) they fill in the blanks that the artwork doesn't show, and/or B) they show something completely different from the artwork and I have to make a judgment call on which design elements to use.

In this case, this isn't completely different, this is the graphic artists just trying their best to recreate the design with limited technology.

Well now I'm a little confused..But by the whole drawing part of it. All of his other forms are completely easy to see unlike this one..If what you are saying is what they are doing, then the other ones wouldn't look so clean and noticable. In game the other forms you can clearly see what all the designs on the clothes are, it's only this specific one that looks this way. The other ones have a crips outline and this one does not.

What kind of gradation are you meaning? Like there will be more colors that are gonna blend and create a colored gradation? Or do you mean there will be more of a grey fade effect like where it'll be darker in the middle or something and get lighter as it goes to the edges? If you mean the second one, that's actually the effect I wanted..

And There IS no official artwork..Everything is a photoshopped picture of the original version. They ONLY Art there is are screen shots.

I wouldn't know about any of Sora's forms or costumes or how they compare - I don't play Kingdom Hearts. All I have to go on are the references you provide and general interpretation of game graphics. You also didn't mention that the original reference image was a fan Photoshoppery, only that there were "problems with it".

Anyway, it's your costume, so you can do the costume or the design effects however you want. I gave my feedback and how I interpreted the images.

If you really want it to look like a gradient, Dye-Na-Flow is a flowable fabric paint that's meant for gradients, blending, and a watercolor look without making fabric really stiff like acrylic paints generally do. It can be applied to wet fabric with a sponge or sumie brush, and it's thin enough that it can be used with an airbrush. From my experience using it, note that it is prone to bleeding, even on dry fabric - it just won't bleed as much as it would on wet. If you need sharp lines or edges, you need to pre-treat the fabric with a flow inhibitor like Stop Flow.

Water-based resists also work well for creating sharp edges for bleed areas, but I wouldn't recommend using it unless your design needs to look very organic because it's a bitch to control.

Well, I know my thread's a little old now, but I have updates to this cosplay, if anyone cares..I guess for future people looking to do this, it could be of some help so..

Anywho, I got all the designs done. However, I found sharpies that actually did the trick. On the sleeves, a silver sharpie comes up grey on the white bottom weight I used..So that's good. No bleeding or anything:http://www.cosplay.com/photo/3400107/

I also used brown sharpie on the red duck cloth I got for the pants chap things. It also didn;t bleed. So that's good lol These are a little hard to see in my pic, but my mirror freaking sucks, and is kinda dirty..:http://www.cosplay.com/photo/3403103/

I mean yea, I WAS gonna go with the airbrush, but I couldn;t afford one haha
Oh also, I know I have the outline things on all the designs, but I have a reason for doing so even though I said it didn;t have them..I'm not good at finding the best quality videos, so my brother found a 1080p HD video of the fight that I screen-capped. In that HD vid, it had the designs extremely clear, and they actually DID look like that..But just, nicer then the crappy first post photo lol